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Nightdive is taking on this 2002 cult classic for its next remaster

A character using a flamethrower on a Thing alien in The Thing remaster.
Nightdive Studios
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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Nightdive Studios has made a name for itself for remasters and remakes of retro games, and it’s announced its next project: a remaster of The Thing from 2002.

In an announcement during IGN Live on Friday, Nightdive revealed that the game will feature some modern features, including antialiasing, 4K resolution, and will be playable in up to 120 frames per second. While the content still appears to be the same (minus some new achievements), The Thing: Remastered will also have new dynamic lighting and improved models and textures.

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The game isn’t available for preorder just yet, but it’s due out later in 2024 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. You can wishlist it on Steam and on GOG.

The Thing: Remastered - Official Reveal Trailer | IGN Live 2024

The studio teased the announcement on Wednesday with a post on X (formerly Twitter). It said to tune into IGN Live on Friday, with a disturbing image that very much looks like a close-up of Norris’ deformed body after being infected by the eponymous alien in the film.

Who wants to guess the game we'll be announcing this Friday at @IGN Live? 👀

Hint: pic.twitter.com/qmdtyJII2n

— Nightdive Studios (@NightdiveStudio) June 5, 2024

The Thing game was a squad-based survival shooter developed by Black Label Games and published by Konami that let you play through a sequel to John Carpenter’s famous horror film. You didn’t play any characters from the movie, but instead had to navigate U.S. Special Forces through the now-decimated Antarctica outpost. Not only was the game successful at release, it also answered an important question from the original film: Did Kurt Russell’s MacReady survive, or was he infected?

Nightdive has been around for around a decade, but it made a big splash in 2023 with the well-received System Shock remake and a Turok 3 remaster. It came out of the gate in 2024 with the Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster as well. The company was acquired by Atari in 2023 for $10 million.

Beyond The Thing, the studio is attached to System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, a remaster similar to its 2015 System Shock: Enhanced Edition. However, that was announced in 2019, and there haven’t been many updates since then. The studio also announced Killing Time: Resurrected an HD remaster of the gory horror shooter from 1996, on Thursday after it leaked ahead of the Guerilla Collective showcase.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
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